Motivating Your Team

So, you have employees, now maybe you’ve had them for a long time, or maybe you’re brand new into a team but there are some days that you’re trying to figure out, how do you motivate your employees in order to do things?

Now obviously each person is different so the way that we acknowledge and appreciate them is different and it’s customized so getting to know your team on an individual one to one basis is definitely a priority.

However, here are some key steps in order to be able to motivate them, assist them in being more productive we’ll say, or even just honouring your team.

1. Appreciation

It could be the small things that they do, it could be that they went outside of their normal tasks to accomplish something, it could be that they stayed late on a project just to get it done, or they spent extra amounts of time with a customer in order to make sure a situation was resolved. On any aspect, some of us really need to hear appreciation from our bosses and from the owners of the company.

How are you being appreciative to your staff on an everyday, every week, every month basis and having that genuine heart of appreciation for them? Whether it’s in acknowledging them and just saying thank you, “thank you for doing that, I appreciate the time you spent on that project,” or letting them know that you are appreciative of the tasks that you’re giving them accolades for. Maybe it’s having an “Employee of the Month, ” that’s kind of cheesy I know, but maybe they’re getting a prize or gift every month for something that they do. It may not ever just be the same person, it could be that the team votes on who should receive the gift this month based on whatever criteria you put together. It could be that you give them a half a day off somewhere in the month that’s paid for them to be able to just do whatever it is that they choose that day.

There are so many ways for showing your team appreciation sometimes it takes effort for us to go there, I know. I have run teams before and it takes effort for you to think about saying thank you or saying that you appreciate it or being proud of those people and acknowledging that to them. It goes outside some of our boxes. So making yourself aware, making sure you have check-ins in order to continue to do that because you want to keep good people and good people want to know that they are being appreciated.

2. Building them up in front of clients and vendors and other people.

How are we bringing the team’s expertise to the surface and building them up as the experts? How are you making them feel really great about who they are inside of the team. As business owners we want people to see our team as the experts and we also want the people in the team to see themselves as being an expert for their confidence but also so they feel they are an intricate part of the success of the team. Each person on the team has a quality that they can stand behind that makes them the expert in whatever it is. The expert in the accounting software, or the expert in balancing the books, the expert at customer service, or anything along those lines. So what is the expertise in each of the individuals on your team and how are you positioning them to your customers, vendors and each other?

3. Team meetings:

If you’re not having them, I highly suggest you start to scheduling them. Team meetings are check-ins to get everybody on the same page. That is the key thing about team meetings is bringing everybody into what you guys are doing. Asking their opinions about initiatives, projects moving forward, scenarios that just happened. . Doing brainstorming sessions together will assist in igniting the diversity in who they are and will bring a sense of belonging to everyone. Want more reasons why team meetings are great, check out this post by Simonstapleton.com

4. Communication

When I used to run a business, I had transparency. We would post our revenue numbers, expenses and labour costs so all of our team can see where the money is being spent. Some owners of businesses might not agree to this. However you watch what happens to your team when they believe you are taking in all this money and you show them that last month you made -$7,000 but they still have jobs even though the business isn’t making money. I have watched a team rally together to bring that number out of the negative. All of this brings in communication.

Discussing the challenges and being transparent brings on new respect. “We’re thinking about making this change, what do you feel? We’re thinking about hiring this person, what do you feel?” And bringing it to the surface so the team understands and is always in communication together will build more solidarity. Will this always work, no! However maybe it’s something you teach into Managers that then role out into the front line, maybe it’s something you address at your monthly meeting. I would just consider… more communication brings more transparency which means more buy in.

5. External Education Training.

People are motivated by new information and new endeavors. The more we can get them outside of the office to learn new things, the more that we’re empowering them inside of their space to have the knowledge they need or bring something new to the table. Also we are positioning them to have credibility inside of the team which motivates them to get more productive and to stand inside of their leadership role inside of their jobs. So register them for training outside of the office, travel with them if it makes sense for your business. It’s just another added value and something else to be able to bring to the team that’s different. It will honour them, keep them coming back while being loyal and diligent. I am pretty sure that this is what we all want in our team.

So in closing, motivating your team is about respect and appreciation and honouring skills and talents. So I ask you, how do you consistently do that inside of your team? It’s tough some days being a business owner, I totally get it. What if you took the time and implemented processes that help and assist with this. Trust me it will get a lot easier and you’re going to find great staff that will stay longer . You’re going to find people on your team that are collaborative with you, who want to help you build a business and make it grow. I think that’s one of the key aspects to having a great team.